The moment I saw, Dr Daljit Singh’s Clinic, in Amritsar, I
was elated. The name brought memories for the first Sikh sisters in my life, at
the boarding school in Shillong. Daljit and Jyoti, were from Amritsar. Jyoti,
who was in my class, gave me the first kada,
in school and it was a steel one I remember. Ever since, I have worn a kada on my wrist, most of the time. In
later years, I met many Punjabis, but the Sikh girls left a lasting impression
in my mind.
There was Arvinder Kaur too, later in my life in Mumbai. She
had once asked me, before she left to Amritsar – What shall I get for you? I
said, get me the Golden Temple.
The Golden Temple in Amritsar, is one of the most profound
experience I have had in this life. I arrived very tired from Jalandar to be at
Amritsar for a night. I was sure, I wanted to stay at the temple premises and
also eat at the langar. A comfortable
room, just outside gate # 2 gave me a pillow and a bed to sleep the night.
Before I had put my head down, I went to the temple to pay my homage to Guru
Granth Sahib.
The golden temple premises and the temple itself are silent.
The only sound you hear is the recitation of the Granth Sahib and the sound of
the plates at the 24-hours langar. Thousands and millions of people visit every
day, but, in groups, waiting and moving, all get to see the temple which houses
the Guru Granth Sahib, the only text the Sikhs worship. There are no pandas, no one coming to disturb you
with an offer to take you in, through the back door if you pay Rs 1001! Like
the belief of the Sikhs, there is only one way that leads to the inside of the
temple where the Guru Granth Sahib is worshiped. At every nook and corner, you
will find, women and men, doing seva – giving
you water to drink, keeping your shoes and luggage, allotting rooms and
sleeping places for you to stay. There is no talk, no gibberish going on.
Everyone is with the nam on their
lips or on their mind. No wonder, for that night and two nights after, I heard
only the nam, even in my sleep.
Wikipedia says – “Satnam
(Gurmukhi:ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ) is the main word that
appears in the Sikh sacred scripture called the Guru Granth Sahib. It is part
of the Gurbani shabad called Mool Mantra which is repeated daily by all Sikhs.
This word succeeds the word "Ek-onkar" which means "There is
only one constant" or commonly "There is one God". The words sat
means "true/everlasting" and nam means "name".In this
instance, this would mean, "whose name is truth". The word nam in
Sikhism has two meanings. "It meant both an application and a symbol of
the All-pervading Supreme Reality that sustained the universe. Guru Nanak in
his teachings emphasized the need of repeating Sat-Nam to realize the
All-pervading Supreme Reality.”
I did not find my friends, Daljit and Jyoti there. I did not
find many other friends I have had from the same Sikh religion. I did not seek
them too, even the next day, when under the sun of the everlasting sky, the
temple, spoke the same language – here, within this hallowed shrine, is the only
God and He has a name - Ek-onkar satnam!
Memories faded as I
left, some of whom, made contribution to my life, people I have lost in time,
but people, who were valuable to my experience of life and made it richer.
Happy Dussera, my dear readers, from across the globe, who have helped this blog to cross way above 100,000 readership.
